Yahoo launches Games Network platform for developers, new Classic Games site for Android, iOS, and the Web

Yahoo today announced a renewed push into games with the launch of its Yahoo Games Network platform and its Yahoo Classic Games site. The company says it already has more improvements and new features on the way, but for now it is happy to show off its cross-platform network for developers and “a great experience for our millions of users.”

The Yahoo Games Network is a new platform for third-party game developers who want to take advantage of Yahoo’s large userbase for distributing their games. It includes onboarding services that help them authenticate players, monetize their games, provide social sharing, analytics, and “ongoing operational support for growth.”

If you’re not a developer, however, Yahoo Classic Games is what you’re looking for. The company promises the new site works “seamlessly” across Android and iOS devices, as well as the Web.

Yahoo naturally includes its own games (like Yahoo Poker, Yahoo Pool, and Yahoo Bingo) but it also already has other hits that it has hosted on its sites before, including KingsRoad, The Last Stand: Deadzone, Ballistic, Bingo Blingo, Rise of Mythos, Vegas World, and Slotomania. The company now wants to rekindle the excitement that online games created in the 1990s, a particularly difficult feat to achieve in the day and age of app stores.

Nevertheless, Yahoo has already convinced some developers in the industry. It specifically names Rumble Entertainment, DreamWorks, SGN, ChangYou, Namco Bandai America, Playtika, FlowPlay, and Con Artist Games as being on board, but says there are “many more” in both mobile and the Web.

The company touts that it has an “untapped gaming audience” of 800 million users worldwide, 400 million of which are on mobile. Converting those people into regular Yahoo gamers, however, will be no walk in the park.

Emil was a reporter for The Next Web between 2012 and 2014. Over the years, he has covered the tech industry for multiple publications, including Ars Technica, Neowin, TechSpot, ZDNet, and CNET. Stay in touch via Facebook, Twitter, and Google+.